Doctors who didn’t know who got the real drug thought patients’ bellies looked better after treatment.
Scientific Claim
Tesamorelin (2 mg subcutaneous daily for 6 months) improves physician-assessed belly profile in HIV-infected adults on antiretroviral therapy with abdominal fat accumulation, with a statistically significant difference compared to placebo.
Original Statement
“Patient rating of belly appearance distress (P = 0.02) and physician rating of belly profile (P = 0.02) were significantly improved in the tesamorelin vs. placebo-treated groups.”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
appropriately stated
Study Design Support
Design supports claim
Appropriate Language Strength
definitive
Can make definitive causal claims
Assessment Explanation
Blinded physician evaluation in an RCT with statistical significance (P = 0.02) supports definitive causal language for this clinical observation.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
Unknown Title
The study found that HIV patients who got tesamorelin injections for 6 months had noticeably less belly fat and looked better to doctors, while those who got fake shots didn’t improve — and the difference was real and not due to chance.